You might have heard of the butterfly effect, maybe from the movie, which I must admit here I didn’t like that much. It’s an aspect of chaos theory, that takes the metaphorical example of how a tornado might have been influenced much earlier by a butterfly flapping its wings somewhere else. It shows that from slightly different initial conditions, the future state of some systems can vary incredibly, like the weather.

I used a similar image in my short story The Christmas Butterfly:

Instead, it was circling around an imposing mahogany globe as if trying to cause a hurricane over this miniature world.

This giant blue butterfly flies on my gorgeous kimono top made by BlackMilk clothing.

So what better location for this photo session than a London indoor garden that features plants from all over the world and happens to look like the Brisbane garden of the original lookbook, Mt Coot-that botanical gardens?

Chaos theory, butterflies and blue hair… I have to talk about Life is Strange.

“Chaos theory” is actually the title of the third episode of Life is Strange, this moving, important, beautiful video game from 2015 that follows Max, an American photography student, who discovers she has some time traveling abilities after dreaming about a storm, seeing a blue butterfly in a bathroom, and witnessing a blue haired girl being murdered. At the beginning of the game, as Max, you use this power to save Chloe, the blue haired punk that is actually Max’s childhood best friend.

Chloe is quite outspoken and bold, she is a great character. Maciej Żywioł, the photographer, told me I was standing quite strong and bold in this picture. The spiderhug ring from Rogue and Wolf, the boots from Aldo (not verified – but looks like you can get them on Ebay… or time travel!), the bodycon dress from Zara  (you can’t see them but it has short butterfly sleeves – quite old, but similar style here or there) and the bra by Implicite (again, if you can’t time travel, similar design here) are helping me keep my po(i)se.

The music, the art and the story are gorgeous, but very bittersweet, sad, and moving as well. I was shaken for a week after playing it and it’s one of my favourite games. It uses time travel and the butterfly effect as a way to explore some important themes like bullying, choices and consequences, friendship and love, among other. The game play is a good way to experience that, as you can go back in time but not too long so you have to make some choices. You have no idea what the long term consequences will be and as strange (!) as it sounds, it was harder for me to choose than in non-time travel game, as your actions there feel truly meaningful.

If you want to explore similar ideas in a similar setting, I would recommend watching the movie Before I fall, even if I didn’t care for the ending. It has a similar feel and uses Groundhog Day like mechanics.

So what rippling effect will this article have? We are here and now as a result of all our past actions and past environments, we are chaotic systems. Our actions and decisions now will make our future, but it is most probably unpredictable.

So no spoilers… except that you can expect more arthropods soon 😉

References

Pictures by Maciej Żywioł, https://mzywiol.blog/

Model, styling: me, @lyraophelia

👕 #bmqueenbshinywingkimono by @blackmilkclothing

👗 an old black dress by @zara

👙bra by @implicitelingerie

👠 @aldo_shoes

💍 spiderhug ring by @rogueandwolf

👄 Labret piercing by @magdapiercingfrom @nemesistattoo

💄 Everlasting liquid lipstick in Witches and Everlasting glimmer veil in Reverb by @katvondbeauty

👁️ Tattoo liner in Trooper, shade + light eye palette and lash liner by @katvondbeauty
Perversion mascara by @urbandecaycosmetics

😊 Lock it foundation by @katvondbeauty

Hair: Atomic turquoise and bad boy blue from @manicpanicnyc @manicpanic_uk